After a failed birthday
by TalysAlankil
Summary: Submission for the Erinversary contest — the birthday of Erin, author of Brewdening Love. Joan's birthday goes horribly wrong as a new threat looms over Forks.
1. Day 0

Joan Louisa Smith was sitting alone in the room her father had rented for her birthday party. It was all the more jarring because it was a large dance studio, and the walls were covered in mirrors.

_They're going to arrive, I'm sure they're going to come—_

Except, of course, for the fact that the Cullens were _never_ late. Especially not almost two hours late.

"It's all that dirty _bitch_ Bella's fault !" she yelled, kicking a chair down in a sudden fit of anger, then clasping a hand on her mouth, horrified at her own language. Bella had never gotten along too well with Joan — the girl wasn't Christian, wasn't sexy, and she had no fashion sense ; how was Joan supposed to admit _that_ in her group of friends ? And yet, in spite of all of Joan's hopes, prayers and efforts for the past year, Bella had been the one to get Edward Cullen's attention.

Still, she'd hoped the Cullens would have had the _decency_ of showing themselves at her birthday party. It's not even like they had left town for summer break, like Becca had. And that was why, in order to get to talk to them in private, she'd invited them a little bit earlier than the others. Okay, two hours was more than a little bit earlier.

Joan's phone rang, and she practically leaped out of her chair to grab it in her purse. It was a text from Tim, saying he couldn't come. The disappointment was double — she'd expected it to be one of the Cullens explaining their being late, and instead ended up with someone else who wouldn't show up.

This, however, wouldn't be the first text of that kind she'd receive this evening.

* * *

Hugo knocked on the door of the Swan household. He hadn't expected an answer — not really — and yet, less than a minute later, the door opened to reveal Charlie Swan's face. His devastated face. _So he knows_.

"Mayor Smith ?"

"Just Hugo. This isn't an official visit."

Charlie nodded and let him in. As they reached the living room, Hugo was only half surprised to see Jacob Black was already there. He nodded hello at the young man — he and Joan had hung out quite a lot in the pas year — and noticed the hurt and worry on his face, too.

"So I'm guessing you both know" Hugo said, keeping his tone as neutral as he could.

They nodded, and Charlie offered him a glass full of amber liquid — probably scotch. Hugo took the glass but ignored it. Swan didn't seem to notice as he collapsed on the couch. "If you're here," he said, "something must have happened."

Hugo nodded. "They found her body this time." Bella's body — Charlie's very own daughter.

Charlie nodded as if he expected this — which he probably did. As soon as the Cullens had gone missing and Edward's torn body had been found, he must have started to fear for his daughter's life. Or her… existence ? Was that the appropriate word ?

Jacob, on the other hand, jumped out of the couch. "Are you sure ?" The boy had probably tried to keep hoping for the best. "What about the others ?" Hugo guessed he was referring to the still very young Renesmee.

"We haven't found anything yet." Jacob sighed, apparently relieved, and Hugo didn't have it in him to tell him his hopes were probably in vain. Hugo turned to the other man in the room. "Charlie, whatever is out there, if it could take on two vampires, even separately, it's a threat to everyone in town."

The man looked up from the couch. "So that's why you have come."

Hugo nodded. "I called Brian, and he and his team will come as soon as possible, but the Unit's up against a huge coven in Illinois, so they're not going to be here for another few days. I need your help."

Charlie breathed deeply, then pulled himself from the couch and grabbed a nearby shotgun. "Where do we start ?"

"Find them. Identify them. Kill them if possible, and if not, try to prevent them from killing anyone else."

Charlie smirked. "Talk about a plan." Of course, they both knew that as long as they didn't know what they were up against, this was as clear a plan as they could come up with.

"I'm coming too" Jacob said. Both older men exchanged a look before Hugo shrugged.

"Whatever. You can take care of yourself better than the two of us, I guess."

* * *

Joan wouldn't deny that she had broken down when _all_ of her guests had cancelled. That was why, when the creaking of the door announced someone entering the studio, she was a crying mess on the floor, broken chairs and torn bits of decorations everywhere around her.

"Joan ?" a voice called. Jenny, she recognized. Of course. Jenny had said she'd be late because of her fencing lesson. "Joan, what happened ? Are you all right ?" She ran across the room to kneel beside Joan.

"They didn't come. Nobody came. They all hate me !"

She felt Jenny's sorry sigh more than she heard it as her friend hugged her tight. "Of course not. I'm sure there's an explanation. Plus, I'm here, and I love you, girl."

Joan giggled. "Love you too." Then, as she pictured a chibi-Father James Holden in her mind yelling at her, she added in a rush, "… no homo, though."


	2. Day 1

Joan woke up at about eleven, to the smell of freshly-cooked pancakes. _Weird. I thought dad would be at work already_. Making her way downstairs in her pyjamas, she realized it was not, in fact, her dad, but Jenny. Of course it was Jenny, who had slept over after Joan's failed birthday party.

Memories of last night washed over her, and she couldn't make out what her friend was telling her as she smiled and presented her a small box wrapped in colorful paper. Joan blinked in confusion, and the blond girl in front of her finally realized her dazedness.

"Someone's having a tough time waking up, I see !" She grabbed Joan by the shoulder and led her to a chair at the kitchen table, still talking. "With all the drama yesterday, I didn't get to give you your present, so here it is. Happy birthday ! Open it while I get done with making breakfast."

In spite of herself, Joan giggled as she tore the package open, revealing a black box covered in a soft, almost velvety material. Inside, she found a silver cross made into a hairpin. She immediately recognized it.

"That's the one we saw together at that little shop in Port Angeles, like, in September !" Jenny hummed in answer. "But, Jen, it was _way_ too expensive !"

The blonde came to sit across from Joan with a plate full of pancakes. "Good thing I'm better than you at bargaining, then. Now shut up and smile. I knew how much you wanted it."

Joan nodded. "Thanks, Jenny." She gathered her loose hair in a ponytail and held them together with the cross. She squirmed to try and get a good view at it, until Jenny giggled and told her to go watch herself in a mirror. She did, and _God_ did it look good. A bluish gemstone was embedded at the center of the cross, which Joan did not remember was on it the first time she'd seen it. She cast a questioning glance at Jenny, who had a large smile.

"He offered me to add that. I chose aquamarine. Because, you know, it goes with your eyes." She giggled as if there was a joke Joan did not understand there. "Now come on, before it all gets cold."

They ate breakfast, then hung around Joan's house for a little while longer before heading off to the mall — Joan had felt the urge to buy herself something to make up for the party gone wrong.

She had just found the _cutest_ short dress when they heard clamor coming from right outside the shop. Joan rushed outside, followed by Jenny — who remembered to stop Joan from actually leaving the shop with the dress still on — and they saw what had caused so much trouble. A body.

Namely, a lifeless body. A young girl's lifeless body. One who looked familiar to Joan…

"It's the Cullen girl !" someone in the crowd whispered. She was right ; Jenny recognized now that his was — had been — Renesmee Cullen.

A man in uniform made his way through the crowd and stopped beside the dead body. "Did anyone see what happened ? Did anyone see who or what did this ?" That, of course, caused an agitation within the crowd — of course there had to be a murderer, and chances were that he or she was still _there_.

A short boy — Tim, Joan recognized — walked forward. "It's going to sound insane, but… I think I saw who did this, and they looked… like the Devil."

Joan smirked. _That's really not the right time for jokes_, she thought. Other people seemed to feel the same, and their accusatory glances made the boy shrink back into his group of friends, until a hand clasped his shoulder.

"Give this boy some space." That hand belonged to an old woman, dressed in a long black dress and wearing square glasses, her grey hair done up in a bun. Despite her obvious age, her voice was firm and authoritative. "He must be terrified by what he's seen." She then turned to him, features and voice softening ever so slightly. "Now tell me, _what_ did you see ?"

Joan couldn't make out her answer from where she stood, and eventually, bored, she grabbed Jenny's arm and made her way back inside the store. "Come on. Who cares about this anyway ? And I still need your opinion on this." Jenny frowned at her for a moment, then shrugged and they focused on the dress again.

* * *

As it turned out, trying to chase a supernatural being in the dim light of twilight and at night was not easy. So much so that Hugo, Charlie and Jacob had ended up giving up after they'd explored every lead from the scene where Bella's body once had been — the cops had already removed it, luckily.

The morning didn't bring them a lot more but they _did_ find some things out — on one hand, there were traces that were definitely those of a human, and yet small indications, such as broken branches, and scar-like markings on tree trunks, indicated that the _thing_ was slightly too tall for a human. It had given Bella a frantic chase, and had ended up catching her and killing her — without getting closer to her than a few feet away.

Then one of Charlie's men had called him about Renesmee, found dead at the mall, and they had had to leave their investigation in the forest. When they arrived, Hugo managed to convince Jacob to go back home — he really didn't need the young shifter to break down right now due to the loss of his imprintee — before they moved on to the scene.

Renesmee was just like Hugo had been told Edward and Bella were found — inanimate, her face frozen in a terrified look, but no actual sign of the cause of death.

Charlie soon turned away from his granddaughter, talking to his men about what information they'd gathered. Hugo then noticed two people standing nearby — a boy that he thought he knew from sight, probably one of Joan's classmates, and a woman who stood near him, almost protectively.

Hugo went to talk to them. "Are you… witnesses ?" he guessed.

Tim nodded. "I am. But they won't believe me."

"Tell me."

"I saw a figure in a hooded cape, running away from here. I got a glance under his hood and I saw he had horns. Like, really, _cow_ horns. And no nose, too. So, when I heard a dead body had been found, like, a minute later, I… assumed there was a connection."

Hugo frowned. A horned man ? Yeah, why not. Would explain the "taller than a human" condition, at least. "What about you ?" he asked the woman.

"You must be Mayor Smith. I heard about you. Professor McGonagall."

"'Professor' ?"

"From a private school in Scotland. You would not know."

He nodded — not because he agreed, but because he understood she didn't want to elaborate. "That doesn't tell me what you're doing here."

"Well, I just happen to have come here looking for a man who fits that exact same description, and when I heard you were coming, I figured I might wait and see if we could help each other."

Hugo's eyes narrowed just a little. "Really now ? What a coincidence."

She didn't catch up the underlying accusation — or outright ignored it — and continued, in a lower voice. "We both know what that girl was. You will need my help if you want to catch something able to kill _her_."


	3. Day 2

_The professor had followed Hugo and Charlie back to the chief's house, where they could talk in private, and had thankfully explained to her everything she knew. "So that man is one of your kind ?" Hugo had asked._

_"He was. A very powerful wizard called Voldemort. I am not entirely sure what he is now, though. We thought he was dead, but then again, this would not be the first time he escaped death."_

_"So how is this different ?"_

_"He does not seem to be entirely human anymore, if he ever was. He has horns, which is the most obvious sign, but his physical prowesses have also increased — not to the point of matching a vampire, but they are still impressive."_

_"Then how did he kill them ?" Charlie asked. "My daughter and Edward ?"_

_"I'm afraid that the answer to that is much more simple. Voldemort has always been very… talented in using the Killing Curse. He must have perfected it to the point of killing even the undead with it."_

_"But why is he here ?" Hugo wondered. "Why is he killing the Cullens ?"_

_McGonagall shook her head. "I have no idea."_

* * *

Joan was ready to spend the day in her bed, doing nothing, when her phone's ringtone announced a text from Becca. She was coming home early and offered to go out to belatedly celebrate Joan's birthday. With her morale low as it was, Joan decided it was an excellent opportunity to cheer herself up and texted Jenny to tell her to come along.

The three of them got Dan to drive them to Port Angeles, where a fair was being held during the whole month of June. Joan led them to everything that caught her attention, well determined of being _this_ evening's queen, at least. As they stopped to grab something to eat and sat down, Joan's attention was suddenly torn away from herself as she noticed something in the way Dan looked at Jenny.

It only took her a moment to figure it out. _He likes her. Like, _likes_ her_. She managed to not say anything, but after that, she did all she could to get them together — she sat with Becca on both the ferris wheel and the roller coaster, forcing Dan and Jenny to be together as well. When she saw that nothing happened, she was too frustrated to think about how this should have been _her_ evening. Did Jenny not notice ? And why didn't Dan _do_ something ?

It was time to take matters in her own hands. And as they walked by the carousel, the opportunity came.

"Look !" Becca squealed. A merry-go-round ! I _love_ those ! Can we… ?" she said, looking at the others.

She was obviously waiting for Joan's answer, but she carefully said nothing. By her side, Jenny shrugged. "Sure, why not ?"

Perfect. "Go without me, then" she said. "I don't really like it, they make me dizzy." An obvious lie, but it's not like her friends would know — it had been years since Joan had ridden on one.

Becca looked embarrassed. "But— we can't leave you alone !"

Joan smiled brightly. "I'm sure Dan will be my valiant knight."

The boy, who had been ignored the whole time, looked uncomfortable when three stares fell on him. "Sure. I'm not a big fan either anyway. Go have fun !"

Becca ran for it, and Jenny was forced to hurry along to keep up, leaving Joan and Dan alone. As soon as she was sure her friends were out of sight, Joan grabbed Dan's forearm.

"Now you listen to me, _boy_ !"

Dan, taken by surprise, tried to pull away, but she held tight. "Whoa there, Joan, what're you—"

"I saw the way you looked at Jenny."

He seemed to relax a little, but blushed ever so slightly — his dark skin turning even darker. "Ah. So this is the moment you talk me out of it ?"

"What ? Of course not ! Are you that much of an _idiot_ ? I want you to ask her out !"

Dan blinked in confusion. "But— I'm not even sure _she_ likes me."

Joan shrugged. "So what ? Are you going to wait until she stares at you and sighs dreamily while picking the petals off a flower ?" _Wow, easy with the sarcasm, Joan_, chibi-Father James Holden said in her head,_ you know a good Christian should avoid that_. "There is but one way to find out, so you're going to ask her out and you're gonna do it as soon as that girl comes back."

Dan didn't look convinced, but Joan's glare was enough of an argument. "Okay" he said, sighing. "I'll do it. But y'know, Joan, I kind of hoped you'd tell me she had told you something about me."

Joan smirked at that. "As if I'd tell you if that were the case !" It wasn't, but he didn't need to know that. Dan rolled his eyes, but nodded, then looked at his arm. She let go, apologizing when she realized he was a little hurt by her grip. Then, just as they were done, Becca and Jenny called them out as they came back.

Joan looked insistently at Dan, who sighed again, nodded, and walked forward to meet the girls halfway.

"Hey, Jenny," Joan heard him say, "could you come with me for a sec ? There's something I need to tell you."

The blonde nodded, and they walked away as Becca joined Joan. "What's going on ?" she asked.

"You'll thank me later" Joan answered, trying to put on her best mysterious face.

"Ah, come on, you can't leave me hanging like that !" Except Joan could and intended to.

She watched the pair as they talked, taking in Jenny's eyes widening a little in surprise at something Dan was saying. Her answer seemed to disappoint Dan, but then Jenny added something hurriedly, and Dan's eyes darted to Joan and Becca, then back to Jenny, his mouth wide open. Jenny suddenly seemed to realize what she'd said, because she looked as shocked as Dan, but the boy placed a hand on her shoulder and said something. Suddenly, the two of them laughed, and walked back to their friends.

Joan was dumbfounded. What had just happened right there ? They didn't act like they were a couple now. Something must have gone wrong.

Later that night, when they were back in Forks, Dan offered to drive them back to their houses, but Joan insisted that they would walk back home from Dan and Becca's house. She seized the opportunity to ask Jenny what had happened with Dan.

Jenny shrugged. "Oh, right, that." She said it as if it was uninteresting — voice neither angry or disappointed nor particularly thrilled. If anything, she sounded _amused_. "Well, he asked me out. Can you believe that ?" Her tone was genuine, but the way she glanced at Joan clearly indicated she knew her friend had a hand in it.

Joan decided to ignore it. "And what did you say ?"

Her friend shrugged again. "Well, I'm not interested in him, I didn't want to lead him on."

"So you said no ?"

"Not exactly, I said that it would get awkward with Becca, since he's her brother and all that."

"Oh. I see." Somehow Joan felt this was a lie, or maybe not entire truth. And she would find out what.


	4. Day 3

The next day, Joan finally got the rest she'd longed for. That is, until an unexpected visitor showed up.

It all started when the doorbell rang. Since her dad hadn't come home yet, Joan was forced to open it herself. When she did, she found herself face-to-face with a tall pale woman with platinum blond hair and amber eyes like Edward's. _They must be related_, she thought. She also looked very distressed.

"Uh, hello" the woman said. "Does Hugo Smith live here ?"

Joan raised an eyebrow, suspicious. "He's my dad. Why ?"

"Can I talk to him ?"

"He's not there right now. Who're you ?"

She opened her mouth silently, then close it again and looked around, shifting uncomfortably. "I'm Tanya. I'm a… cousin of the Cullens." As she kept looking around, she added, so silently Joan was almost unable to hear while standing right in front of her, "Say, I would understand if you said no, but can I wait for your father in here ?"

Joan pondered about it for a very uncomfortable minute during which Tanya kept looking around as if she expected something to come running at her. Of course, she didn't know the woman, but then again, how dangerous could she be ? And, well, maybe _that_ would finally get Edward's attention, helping his cousin ?

So she made her decision. "Sure, come in" she said as she made way for the woman to come in. "Dad should be there in about twenty minutes now, so you won't have to wait for too long." Then, remembering her manners, she added, "Do you want something to drink ?"

The woman gulped loudly. "No, I'm fine, thank you."

The next twenty minutes were mostly spent in awkward silence — Joan tried to ask a few things about her, but Tanya would always deflect the questions and Joan got bored very soon.

So, when her father entered the house, followed by two people — Joan recognized Chief Swan, Bella's father, but not the woman that followed them — he found Tanya sitting very straight on the couch and Joan standing in the doorway to the kitchen, unsure of what to do.

"Who are you and—" Joan's dad started. Then he noticed Joan. "Joan, who's that woman ?"

"It's okay, Hugo" Chief Swan said. "She's a friend of the Cullens, she was at Bella's wedding." _Yeah, rub your daughter's marriage to Ward in my face, thanks a lot_, Joan thought, even though she knew it was a little stupid. "…Tanya, is that right ? Tanya Denali."

The woman nodded. "I came as soon as I heard about Edward's death. So horrible. But I also managed—"

"What ?" Joan let out. She hadn't meant to say anything, but that was too much. "Edward's d-_dead_ ?"

Her dad tried to pull her in a hug, and for once, she didn't have the heart to resist. "Yeah. He and Bella, three days ago. Then their daughter the following day. I'm sorry, sweetie."

Three days ago. On her birthday. She'd spent all that time angry at a dead person for not coming to her birthday party ? She suddenly felt very petty. And with that, her anger evaporated, leaving her empty, too.

"You're Mr Smith, correct ?" Tanya interrupted them. "I'm sorry, but this is very urgent and—"

Joan's dad turned to Tanya only for a second, and said, a little dryly, "Not now." Then, back to Joan : "Joan, I'm going to call Jenny's dad, okay ? They're going to pick you up, and you're gonna spend the night there."

Joan frowned — not that she didn't mind, but… "Why ?"

"We're going to have to be out again tonight and I don't want you to be alone. Frankly, I should have done that sooner. I'll come get you back when it's over — until then, stay close to Mr Donna at all times, am I clear ?"

Joan nodded. "Okay, dad." At least she'd be with Jenny.

* * *

As soon as Joan was in Lewis's car, Tanya started talking again. "Mr Smith—"

"Hugo."

The vampire — Hugo guessed she was a vampire — frowned, but kept talking. "Hugo, then. I found where the Cullens went. After Renesmee died, they understood that something is after all of them, but they wanted to warn you. This is—"

"I know what it is." Tanya seemed taken aback by the revelation.

"And hiding won't be of any use for too long." McGonagall added. "Voldemort could find his way around a Fidelius charm, he'll tear through whatever protection these… vampires came up with."

Tanya's eyes widened. "Are you sure ? If that's the case… We need to warn them ! Tell them to run away."

"Going to them would be a good idea" Charlie said. "If anything, to use them as bait." The blonde vampire made a strangled sound at the thought, but no one paid attention to it.

"Charlie's right" Hugo said. "Can you take us to them ?"

Tanya looked like an animal caught in a trap. "S-Sure."

* * *

It took them a good twenty minutes to reach the Cullens' hideout : a secluded underground bunker, deep within the woods. They were about to try and get inside when a noise attracted their attention to the section of the woods they'd just emerged from.

Out of there, a man in a long hooded robe emerged. The hood was down, revealing his pale skin, nonexistent nose, red eyes, and the cow horns sprouting from each side of his forehead.

"So much for using them as bait" Charlie said. "_We_ were the bait."

Tanya fell to her knees, and if she hadn't been a vampire Hugo was pretty sure she'd have burst into tears. "What did I just do ? Oh, no, no, no, no, no."

Voldemort pulled out a line of wood — a magical wand, as McGonagall had explained. The professor pulled her own wand, and as a green lightning erupted from Voldemort's wand, the trees moved and formed a wall, blocking the spell. The Killing Curse, McGonagall had explained, could only be evaded or blocked by a physical object. Still, the curse had torn a wall through the wooden barrier, and the wizard in front of them was ready to strike again.

However, this first failed spell gave Hugo and Charlie time to react. The chief of police fired two rounds from his shotgun then took cover behind a massive tree nearby to reload, and Hugo threw one of Brian's incendiary grenades at the wizard — he wouldn't be very happy that Hugo had used them, but he'd understand — before dragging Tanya behind another tree. He pulled out his own semi-automatic and came back out of the tree to support McGonagall, who was trying to create more protections to stop the wizard's curse.

Voldemort raised his wand to strike again, but then, a loud noise — similar to the sound of thunder — came from behind him, and he was zapped by an electric discharge, blasting him to the ground.

Worried, Hugo ducked behind one of McGonagall's barriers as he heard the bushes rustling in the approximate direction of Voldemort. A few moments later, a small creature — a yellow-furred rodent — came out of the bushes.

"Pi-ka !" the rodent said as he waved one of his arms at Hugo. It took a few moments to realize that what was in front of him was, in fact, a Pokémon — Joan had never been into those games as a kid. This one was short, a little chubby, had pointy ears with black tips and a tail shaped like a lightning bolt, and enormous cute black eyes.

"You're… a Pikachu ?" He did know the mascot's name, at least. _Well, this is just getting weirder every day_. The rodent nodded cheerfully.

As he chanced a glance over his protection, Hugo noticed that Voldemort was gone. "Well, thanks for that, I guess" he told the little creature.


	5. Day 4

Joan's dad had called, asking Lewis to shelter Joan one more night. Jenny's dad agreed without a second thought, something that Joan didn't quite understand — sure, the two girls' fathers were friends since high school, but he hadn't even asked why Joan needed to stay.

Well, whatever it was, Joan was almost certain of two things : that it was unimportant — because this was Forks, Washington, and nothing important ever happened here — and that it was a perfect opportunity for her to pry information from Jenny about her discussion with Dan, two days ago. She had refrained from talking about it the day before, because she didn't want to make her friend feel like she was pushing her around, but she definitely wanted to know what Jenny had hidden from her.

* * *

The problem with Pokémon is, they don't talk. So it was kind of hard to figure out where the Pikachu came from or what its motivations were. The little rodent was obviously friendly and was chasing Voldemort, but still, Hugo was curious — and really, who wouldn't be ?

He'd asked Lewis over the phone — if someone would know a way to communicate with a Pokémon, it would be him — but the scientist had been as surprised as Hugo to hear about the Pikachu. McGonagall's magic had proven fairly useless as well, as it seemed immune to all the spells she tried.

The answer came by accident, after their little group had gone to Charlie's house to rest, eat, and establish a safe place for the vampires to move in now that their hiding place had been found. At dawn, the Pikachu had found a sketchpad that had belonged to Bella before she moved in with the Cullens. And while the rodent wasn't a very accomplished artist, it managed to draw a somewhat-understandable storyboard of what had brought it all the way there.

If Hugo understood properly, the Pikachu's trainer — he guessed that's who the boy was — had been after a particularly big Pokémon. He'd failed to capture it, and the beast had formed what looked suspiciously like a hole in the air — and frankly, Hugo remembered that some Pokémon supposedly had world-altering abilities, so why not ? — the brought the trainer and his team right in front of Voldemort and another, sinister human — all the knew is that he or she didn't have horns, since the Pikachu's ability to identify unknown humans didn't really go far beyond that.

Voldemort had killed the trainers and his team, with the exception of the Pikachu, who the trainer had forced in his Pokéball — again, this was an educated guess based on what Hugo knew and the Pikachu's very odd depiction of being turned into a ball of light. The device must have been broken at some point, letting the Pikachu out, and it had followed Voldemort as quietly as possible since then.

Luckily, since the Pikachu understood human language, it was able to confirm with enthusiastic nods that Hugo's understanding of the story was correct. So they could almost communicate.

Aside from that, Charlie had volunteered his house to use as shelter for the Cullens. Hugo would have preferred his house — now that he wanted it burnt down _again_, but Brian had installed a lot of defense mechanisms against supernatural creatures there — but the Cullens had felt more confident being with "family". Which, Hugo guessed, Charlie _was_ to them, being Bella's father.

Tanya had spent most of the time since Voldemort's attack crying over how she had betrayed her friends, so she was pretty much unable to make herself useful. That left only four of them — Charlie, McGonagall, Pikachu and Hugo himself — who could hunt down Voldemort. They decided to work all day at the house's defense first, and that they'd go after the wizard the next day.

* * *

An opportunity came for Joan after dinner, when Lewis went downstairs to his personal lab. Jenny and Joan went to sit down in front of a movie, and after a dozen minutes, Joan pretended to be bored and turned to her friend.

"So. What were you hiding from me about Dan ?"

Jenny looked at her, frowning. "Huh ? What're you talking about ?" She looked genuinely confused about Joan's question.

"Well, that other night, you told me why you'd said no. I'm sure there is something you were hiding from me."

Jenny looked down, slightly embarrassed. "Well—" She sighed. "Ah. I guess I might as well."

"Ah-ha ! I _knew_ there was something."

"Stop gloating. It's just that I might have someone else in sight right now" she said, looking up at Joan again.

"Really ? Who's that ? And why didn't you _tell_ me ?"

"Well, I wasn't really sure at first. But I am now. As to who it is, I have absolutely _no_ intention of telling you."

"What ?" Joan couldn't believe it. "Why not ? We're supposed to tell each other everything !"

Jenny looked around, as if she was looking for a way out of there. "I— I just don't want to. That's all."

Joan raised an eyebrow. "Well then," she said with a haughty look, "I'll just ask Dan ; he's super-easy to bully into giving information anyway."

Jenny shrugged. "Go ahead. I didn't tell him anything."

Joan's eyes narrowed slightly. Was she lying or was that the truth ? For once, Joan wasn't entirely certain. Either way, she couldn't ask Dan right now and her curiosity was eating at her sanity. "Oh, come on then, tell me ! It can't be that terrible that you have a crush on some boy, I mean, I know you have good taste !" Well, Jenny hadn't really confessed to having a crush before, but still, Joan was sure her friend had excellent taste — they were friends after all.

Still, the compliment didn't seem to faze Jenny. "Joan, just… don't. I'm not going to tell you. So stop asking." As she spoke, she got up from the couch and left the room.

_Well, that didn't go as planned_. It didn't matter anyway. Joan would let her sulk for a while, make a peace offering with chocolate, and she'd find another way of making her friend admit her crush to her.

She decided to watch the rest of the movie, not willing to go to the bedroom she shared with Jenny just now. Suddenly, the flash of a lightning illuminated the room from outside — _when had a storm broken out ?_ Joan wondered — and for a second, Joan thought she saw the silhouette of an old man behind the window. She got up to go see what it was, but by the time she looked through the window and into the darkness of the night, there was nothing.


	6. Day 5

Jenny forced Joan to come outside in the afternoon, forcing her to stop watching television all the time and enjoy the sunny weather. Joan had tried to resist, but Jenny's enthusiasm had gotten the best of her and she'd accepted. So they were sitting at a table on the Donna's terrace, playing several card games — Joan hadn't agreed to doing any kind of sports as Jenny had suggested. She didn't want to get all sweaty after all.

And of course Joan still had something in her mind. She was steering the conversation very slowly to talk about boys, in hopes of finally learning the identity of Jenny's crush.

She'd started talking about Edward. She'd already told Jenny that he and Bella were dead, and had cried about it all night when she'd first come to the house. Now, the thought of it didn't really hurt anymore — Joan was starting to realize that maybe Edward was just a crush, and while it was sad that he was dead along with his wife and daughter, it didn't go any further than that. She had told Jenny that, then she started to ramble on about what boys she might go after now that she was over Ward.

"Tim's kind of cute," she said, "even though he's not always very nice to me. But I guess that's just because he likes pranks and I get annoyed very easily. Don't you agree ?"

Jenny started, as if she hadn't paid attention to the conversation. "Tim. Yeah, he's not too bad."

"What do you think about Emmet, then ? He's super muscly, that's hot."

Jenny sighed. "Emmet's _married_, Joan."

"Ah, but from what I've heard, they didn't have a church wedding. So in the eyes of the Lord, it's nothing."

Jenny stared at her, as if she wasn't sure she was serious — which Joan was, of course. You don't take the name of your Lord in vain, and all that. "Do you have a point in all this ?" Jenny asked.

"Well, I'm asking for your opinion on what guys are boyfriend material."

Jenny's stare got even more jaded. "This is not about you, is it." Her inflection wasn't that of a question.

Oops. Not as smooth as Joan had expected, then. "Well," she said, slightly annoyed, "if you just trusted your best friend and _told_ me, I wouldn't have to try and get it out of you."

Jenny looked angered at the thought that she didn't trust Joan, but that was exactly Joan's point — since being stealthy about it didn't seem to work, she'd try to get Jenny so annoyed that she'd just give in.

"Come on. You know you can tell me _anything_. I won't even judge."

Jenny crossed her arms and raised her eyebrows, as if she was challenging Joan. "Fine. I'll tell you." She took a few deep breaths, then said. "It's you."

Joan blinked. _What ?_

She must have said that out loud because Jenny answered. "That crush I have is on _you_."

Joan shook her head. "But— But that's not possible. That'd mean you're a— And you're a Christian. You're not a sinner, are you ?"

Jenny sighed, a pained look in her eyes. "Gee, thanks for pointing it out. I hadn't noticed. And so much for the 'I won't judge', too."

"But come on, Jenny. You _can't_ be—" the word wouldn't form in Joan's mouth. She felt a few tears on her cheeks, even though she didn't really know why or when she'd started crying.

"Why not ?" Jenny's voice sounded more broken than angry.

"Because it's _wrong_, you know what Father James Holden says, don't you ?"

"I do. But it's been a while since I realized we shouldn't take all of his words for the absolute truth."

"Jen ! I mean, he's a priest ! Show some respect !"

Jenny sighed loudly and stood up. "This is ridiculous. I knew I shouldn't have told you. I know you enough to know you wouldn't have taken it well." She went back inside the house, and Joan couldn't summon the courage to go after her.

Her friend was— No, even in thought, the word couldn't come to her. As long as she didn't think it, maybe she could prove Jenny that she was wrong and get her back to a good Christian life. Right ?

Her stream of thoughts was interrupted by a loud _thump_ coming from behind. A deer was standing in the garden, having apparently jumped over the fence. The beast was massive, taller than Joan even when not counting the antlers ; and those antlers were a tangle so intricate that they looked like real branches in the winter, making the beast look huge..

The deer was gorgeous as it walked, then paused in the middle of the garden to stare at Joan. Mesmerized by its beauty, the girl walked in its direction without even noticing. As she was only a few steps away from it, the deer suddenly vanished, transforming into a man. Wearing white robes, he had long brown hair and a beard, and gentle blue eyes.

Joan stared at him for a moment, in shock. "Are you… Jesus ?"

The man looked a little surprised — maybe at the fact that Joan had immediately recognized him ? "Um— Yes, yes I am." Then, with more confidence, he added, "Come with me, holy one. I need your assistance for something."

Joan was about to say yes at once, but her dad had specifically told her to not leave the Donnas' house until he came. Then again, this was _Jesus_, surely the Lord's words would override her father's ? That, and Joan really wanted to get away from the house right now.

So there was only one thing to say. "Yes, Lord."

Jesus sighed in relief and nodded. "Then climb on my back" he said, turning back into his deer form.

Joan did, and the Deer-Lord started to run, so fast that her environment became a blur of buildings, soon replaced by trees when they reached the forest. Joan felt exhilarated at this feeling of speed and power, but she didn't dare let go of the deer's antlers, lest she fall off his back.

Suddenly, the deer stopped in the middle of the woods, and for a moment Joan was left dizzy with their new immobility. The deer turned his head and nodded at her, and Joan guessed he wanted her to climb off his back. She did, and when she turned to look around her and try to see where she was, she found herself face-to-face with a horned man.

"Oh my God !" she shrieked, backing away from him. "You're the Devil, Tim was _right_ !" Something stopped her from walking further back — it was Jesus, who'd turned back into a human. "Jesus ? Is that why you needed me ? To fight the Devil ? I don't think I can do that, I'm just a girl !"

The blue-eyed man smiled down at her, wrapping an arm around her waist. "No, little girl. I need you here because your father is a danger to my master, the Dark Lord."

Joan darted her eyes back and forth between the two men. It couldn't be, could it ? "But… you're Jesus. You don't _have_ a master, _you're_ the Lord !"

The devilish man smirked. "She really is naïve, isn't she ? And she's annoying Lord Voldemort. Please gag her."

Jesus pulled out a short stick from his robes, waved it at Joan, and she found herself unable to move her lips. Suddenly, panic seeped in her, and she tried to run away, but the man's arm was still holding her waist and she couldn't do much more than flail uselessly.

"They should be here soon" the man — Voldemort ? — continued, ignoring her attempts at fighting.

And whoever _they_ was referring to, when he said that, as if on cue, bushes started rustling from every direction, and men and women emerged from the forest. The were all pale and extremely calm, and all seemed to have red eyes, as far as Joan could make out from where she was.

One of them, with black hair, looked to be the oldest of them. "Ah. So you _did_ manage to do something right, Cow Voldemort."

Jesus raised his stick — a magic wand, Joan guessed, but wasn't magic supposed to _not_ be real ? — and pointed it at the old man. "No one mocks the Dark Lord !"

The old man smirked. "The only reason you're not dead right now is that you're holding the prisoner. Point that thing at me again and I will break it. And since you'll be useless without it, I will break _you_ too. I don't keep useless things around."

"Aro," Voldemort said, "I got the girl. Now turn me. Let me live forever." Joan had given up on trying to make sense of what was being said in front of her — like why an old man seemed to intimidate someone who could use the Dark Arts.

Aro raised an eyebrow at the Dark Lord. "Our bargain was that you would kill the Cullens. Most of them are, as far as I know, still alive, aren't they ? You're getting ahead of yourself, cow." He then turned back to Jesus-who-wasn't-Jesus. "Now, give the girl to Alec, we're leaving. We need to warn our local heroes that we have a hostage before they do something stupid. That would be very regrettable."

They were going to use her as hostage ? Joan tried to run away again when she was passed from Jesus' arms to a younger man's, but this one — Alec, he'd been called — was even stronger and faster, and he caught her without a trouble.

Desperate, she gave up fighting. There was nothing she _could_ do. And an uninvited thought crossed her mind. _Jenny, I'm sorry_.


	7. Day 6

Joan had been kidnapped.

There was no way Hugo could process that. He could admit that the wizard, Voldemort, was working with the Volturi for some reason, and that was why he was killing the Cullens. He could admit all the _other_ strange things — the very existence of wizards, of Pokémon, and of a horned wizard come back from the dead, to name a few — that had happened since Edward Cullen's death. But someone had taken his baby daughter and that was too much. Worse, as far as he knew, there was nothing he could do about it.

Except turn in the Cullens, of course, but not only was that not an option, Hugo didn't trust Aro Volturi's word that Joan would be returned to him safe and sound. He knew better than to trust vampires — Brian had taught him as much. Hugo had tried to contact him, too, but had been stuck on the voicemail. He only hoped Brian was fine and would listen to his messages soon.

In the meantime, he, Charlie, Professor McGonagall had been trying to devise a plan to get Joan back. Which was obviously not an easy task — they didn't even know where she was being held. Only that she was fine when Aro had allowed him a video call to his daughter last night.

Their idea came from an unexpected source — Alice Cullen. She was the first of the vampires to come down from the second floor since the family had locked themselves in there.

"I'm sorry for your daughter" she told Hugo. He looked at her, confused, before remembering the diminutive vampire was a seer. "I have seen something about her, if it can help."

Hugo wanted to shake the information out of her, but manage to keep his calm exterior. He nodded to her. "Go on."

"It was a vision of three of you, and the small creature," — she pointed at the Pikachu, who had been watching their planning and had interfered once in a while — "in the forest. I can tell you the exact location, because it's a meadow where Edward and Bella went a lot when they wanted time alone. If you just give me a map…"

Charlie went to grab one in another room of the house, and Hugo pressed on. "When were we there ? And what was going on ? I mean, how can you tell it's a good thing ?"

"And how do we know we can trust your visions ?" McGonagall said, skeptical.

Alice didn't seem fazed by the professor's doubts. "It was the dark of the night — judging by the position of the moon, if it happens tonight, it would be around midnight. And it was not very clear — I think one of the Volturi guys was trying to block the vision — but you were smiling, and there was something… happy about the scene. Someone else was there, too. I couldn't see them from where I was, but there was someone smaller than you in your arms. So I thought it probably was your daughter."

Hugo nodded. It wasn't much, but it was more than they had so far. He just had to decide whether he'd risk his daughter's life over it.

"You haven't answered my question" McGonagall pointed out, coldly polite.

"My visions aren't entirely reliable. People can always change their minds about what they're going to do, and that affects my visions. So, to answer your question, you can't really trust my visions."

Well, that sure wasn't helping Hugo make his decision. "Alice, my daughter's life is in the balance. I would need more than that" he said as Charlie came back with a map of the county.

"I could go with you" the vampire said. "Pretend that you're willing to trade me off for your daughter. And if I get another vision because things change, I'll be able to tell you straight away."

"You'd give yourself as bait ?" McGonagall said.

Alice nodded. "Yes. If Mr Smith can save his daughter, I'm certain he could then avenge my brother and Bella. So I'd be willing to sacrifice myself for that to happen."

Everyone turned to Hugo. When did he become the leader of their little group ? Oh, right, probably by the point his daughter was kidnapped. Or maybe before that.

_The more we wait the and higher the chance that they grow tired and simply kill her_, he thought. They had given Hugo a deadline that would end the next day at noon. Maybe they should make a run for it. Hugo suddenly wished he'd asked Brian more information about Alice's precognitive abilities. But it was too late for that.

"Very well" he found himself saying. "It'll take us half an hour to get there. We're leaving at eleven." He'd rather be there in advance, ready for whatever might wait.

* * *

The rest of the evening was spent figuring out every detail they could think of : what kind of equipment they should bring along, what exact route they should take, what protections they could expect to have from McGonagall's magic — and just what they would be protected _from_, knowing about the Killing Curse that broke through magical protections — and the like. All the way through, Hugo kept shooting glances at Alice Cullen, expecting her to say that her vision was wrong or that she'd had another one. Neither of those happened, though, but that didn't help Hugo be any less nervous when it was time to leave.

Hugo had packed on a few more equipment that Brian had left him. He just wished they weren't going through wooden terrains, or he could have used the Bus to Apocalypse against the vampires. But the vehicle would stay in its special garage for now.

And then they finally left and went through the woods. McGonagall transformed into a tabby cat to do so, both because it was easier to navigate the woods in that form and for the nocturnal vision it granted her. Well, semi-nocturnal, as she had explained — cats do need _some_ light to see, just much less than humans do. The Pikachu also offered to light the way at one point, but Hugo refused, preferring not to signal their location. Plus, he and Charlie were both used to navigating those woods in the dark, and Alice, as a vampire, was completely unhindered by it.

The walk to the meadow was uneventful — and still no new vision came to Alice — and the place was empty when they reached it. This made Hugo a little nervous — he'd hoped to find the Volturi there, something like that.

Time passed, silently, and still nothing happened as they hid in the trees. When it was five to midnight on Hugo's watch, he almost decided to give up and say they were going home, but was interrupted when a group emerged from the trees on the opposite side of the meadow.

The wizard, Voldemort, was leading them, followed by another man in robes and holding a wand — _so, another wizard, then_. The rest of the troupe was a dozen vampires.

"That's much more than I had expected" Hugo whispered. "McGonagall, what can you do about those two ?" he asked the woman, nodding at the wizards.

"I already told you. I can't overpower Voldemort by myself, but I have placed some protective enchantments on you. I know the other one — I should have no trouble taking him out."

Hugo nodded. "Still no more visions ?" Alice shook her head. "Do you think we can win this one ?"

Alice looked at the scene in front of them. "This is the scene I saw. I'm sure of it."

"I think it's feasible." Charlie said "With what you gave us, we should be able to fry at least half of the vampires before they even know where we are."

Hugo nodded. "Okay. Get ready. Alice, you're coming with me."

The plan was simple in its efficiency. Hugo took Alice, bound in regular handcuffs that she could break — but that had been made to look like Brian's strengthened cuffs — to the wizard. Voldemort said nothing as he walked forward, and only smiled.

"I want to trade my daughter for this one" he said clearly.

Voldemort smirked. "The deal was the whole family, Mr Smith, and you know that."

"Well, let me see Aro Volturi and we'll renegotiate."

Voldemort turned his attention away for a moment, laughing at his troops, and Charlie chose that instant to fire Brian's mortar. At the same time, the ground in front of Hugo raised to form a natural barrier, as Alice broke herself free and Hugo let the Pikachu out of his backpack.

Hugo threw himself to the ground, and noticed the barrier had some spaces carved into it to allow Hugo to shoot through. He'd taken a rifle loaded with incendiary bullets, and fired at the vampires, careful not to waste his precious ammo. McGonagall had teleported herself next to him — or "Apparated" as she'd called it earlier — and started fighting against the younger wizard, while Pikachu was harassing Voldemort with lightning bolts, keeping him distracted while Alice took on the very confused vampires.

Of course, soon enough, four of the vampires got a hold over themselves and rushed around McGonagall's barricade, forcing Hugo to let go of his rifle and pull out a pair of handguns, loaded with explosive bullets. Less effective to kill a vampire, but these weapons would be much more efficient at close range. One of the vampires managed to get past his line of fire, but Alice chose that moment to join Hugo and tore the male vampire apart in moments.

Eventually, the other three fell down as well, and Hugo turned back to see that the other wizard was on the ground — just unconscious or dead, Hugo couldn't tell. Voldemort was still trying to fight off the Pikachu, but as McGonagall had discovered a few days ago, it was immune to magic, which the wizard didn't seem to understand.

Hugo decided that he might regret this later, but _fuck it_, this was the man who'd caused everything and the reason his daughter had been kidnapped. He grabbed his rifle, aimed, and shot. Voldemort froze in the middle of casting a spell, a disbelieving expression on his face, before the incendiary took effect and he burst into flames.

"Try to come back from _that_" Hugo said, a ferocious sneer on his face.

Still, soon, the adrenaline high wore off and he realized that they hadn't really progressed in saving Joan. Until a scream came from behind. Hugo then realized that Charlie hadn't joined them as he was supposed to.

Their little group rushed off into that direction, and McGonagall shot some sort of luminous flare to light the way. The scene they witnessed then took Hugo aback. About twenty more vampires were standing there, and two of them were holding Charlie hostage.

"Silly humans" a vampire said — a young-looking man that, if Hugo remembered correctly, was Alec, one of the Volturi's most faithful lapdogs. "You think you've won ? If anything you rid us of those wizards. Can you realize Aro was considering to not only turn them as they asked, but to not tie them to us afterwards ? As if they were our _equals_ !"

"Let Charlie go, and take me to my daughter" Hugo said. He didn't have the slightest hint of a plan, but he was just so pissed off right now that he felt ready to kill all of them by himself. Next to him, his teammates' attitudes indicated that they were in a similar state of mind right at the moment.

"Are you serious ? What, do you think you're threatening or someth—" Alec was cut off mid-sentence by a detonation and a hole that formed in his side, followed by him literally exploding. The other vampires looked around, confused, but before they could react to this new threat, they were promptly taken down. Then, a dozen men and women, wearing dark uniforms and carrying heavy equipment emerged from the trees.

One of them took off his helmet. "Sorry to keep you waiting !" the blonde man said, grinning at Hugo. He could have kissed Brian right now. In fact, before he even realized what he was doing, he was in his arms and kissing him. "Hello to you too" his lover said when they pulled apart. "Let's go get your daughter back, now."


	8. Day 7

As they made their way through the forest, Brian explained Hugo that he was already on the way back to Forks with the Washington team when he got Hugo's message, and that the Cullens — warned by Alice before they had left — had told them where to find Hugo and the others. He also told Hugo that Alec's group of vampire had sent one of them away — presumably to warn Aro — and two of his agents had followed him. Thanks to their personal tracking devices, the rest of the team could follow their signals, hopefully to where Joan was being held. And hopefully they'd get there before Aro would kill her.

Still, Hugo did finally dare feel optimistic. The presence of the Unit team alongside them, the people who were trained specifically to deal with this kind of situation, was the best reassurance he could get. That and Brian, of course. They hadn't talked much beyond the exchange of information — they weren't exactly in private right now — but Brian was still standing right beside Hugo, and that was enough of a support right now.

A few minutes after their departure, the two scouts' trackers immobilized, meaning that they had likely reached their destination. About ten minutes later, they caught up with the scouts and the corpse of a vampire — the messenger sent by Alec, that the two scouts had intercepted before he could warn Aro.

The vampire's lair was right in front of them — an small abandoned house that used to serve as a refuge for hunters caught in the forest too late to come home. A thermal scanner allowed them to find out Joan was alive and held on the second floor, but they had no idea how many vampires were still there and where they were.

They waited for a few minutes, trying to see something helpful — and Hugo was definitely hoping for Alice to get a new vision, too — but it was McGonagall who had an idea first. She held up her wand, and whispered : "_Homenum Revelio_." She turned to Hugo, and said. "It works. I can see where they are."

Hugo nodded. "Tell us."

There were only half a dozen vampires left in the house : four on the first floor, two of them were resting and the other two guarding the front and back doors ; and two on the second floor, one outside the room where Joan was and the other next to her. Brian and Hugo didn't need much more to plan their attack.

With the help of McGonagall's magic, four agents — including Brian — climbed up the trees near the window of the room Joan was held in, ready to jump in at any moment. The witch herself stayed put, ready to Apparate inside and give them her support if needed. The rest of the team, led by Hugo, walked up to the house, as if they didn't know what was waiting inside.

* * *

Joan was expecting to die any moment now. She knew they had asked her father something, but she didn't really expect him to do it. Because he didn't want her back or because he just couldn't give in, she wasn't sure and it didn't matter. So it was a little tiring that she had to wait instead, held by a leash as if she were a pet.

Suddenly, however, she was forced out of her brooding by a voice coming from outside. She couldn't quite make out the words, but she knew it was her father. Was he there to save her ? But how would he ? He probably didn't even know that these were _vampires_ ! That reveal itself had been enough to make Joan faint when they had told her. What could her dad possibly do against them ?

Well, either way, he was going to try. Or at least she guessed so when something exploded somewhere outside — probably the door, or a wall. Of course, the vampire guarding her heard it, too.

"Looks like your dad is being stupid, honey" he said, purring the words in her ear. "Too bad. I wish I could have taken my time with you. Well, maybe I'll get to play with someone else, too, as a compensation." He smirked against her neck, then threw his head back, uncovering his fang, and—

The window exploded behind her, followed by the detonation of a gun being fired, and the vampire froze. He then hissed in anger and turned around to face four people in full body suits, who fired another volley of bullets that caused him to fall to the ground. One of the people — a woman, judging by her looks — knelt next to him, grabbed a sharp, long object from her belt and stabbed the vampire with it. Another man walked to her and took off his helmet. Joan recognized him — he was Brian, the man who'd taken her father into a life of sin.

And still, she felt very happy to see a familiar face right now — even his. Not that she would admit it out loud.

Brian cut off her bonds, and she reflexively started when his hand touched into hers. She glared at him for a second, but he only looked saddened by her reaction. "Hey, Joan" he finally said, and Joan noticed he sounded a little uncertain. "I'm here to save you. Come on, I'll take you home."

He held out his hand and she looked at him, unsure of what to do. This man was _evil_, she had always thought so, so maybe it was a trap ? But then again, it didn't look like it — they had killed the vampire, and she'd heard her dad outside.

Her musings were interrupted when the door was broken down and two vampires ran through it. They looked at the scene, a little confused, then one of them jumped at the nearest suit-person — it was the same woman who'd stabbed the first vampire — and the second went straight for Joan herself. Brian pushed her out of the way, and the vampire knocked him back against the wall instead, where they crashed with a loud noise — and the sound Brian made didn't sound very encouraging to Joan.

Still, two other people in suit were completely free to move, and the got rid of the vampires more quickly than Joan thought possible, stabbing the one who'd crashed on Brian in the back and shooting the other down.

Joan felt a rush of worry for the blonde man, all of a sudden — and damn the _evil_ thing of it all. She went to help him push the vampire off him and help him on his feet. In response, he grinned at her and whispered a thanks. She just nodded, and grabbed his hand.

"Please take me out of here" she said. The man _had_ just saved her life — the least she could do was be nice.

Brian chuckled, and he nodded the others to lead the way downstairs. It turned out to be an unnecessary precaution, as they immediately met another guy in a suit, who told Brian that 'the area was secure', which Joan guessed was a good news.

Moments later, they were downstairs and her dad was there. He ran to hug her, and she let him, for once. She may even have hugged him back. Just a little.

* * *

Joan was growing a little desperate that the door would never open. She was squirming in front of the doorstep for a good fifteen minutes now. Maybe Jenny and her dad weren't there ? But both their cars were in front of the house, so it didn't make sense.

Suddenly, a small rush of panic surged through her — and after what she'd been through, she couldn't really repress it.

They had come home safely, and her dad and Brian had explained to her what had just happened, and asked her to promise not to tell. And, as interesting a story it would make, she didn't really feel like telling either. It was best to forget and move on, she thought. That, and no one would believe her.

But there was still something about the past few days that she needed to make up for, and that was why she was there, holding a box of chocolates.

Finally, the door opened, and Jenny was standing there. When she saw who was there, her eyes widened, and she reached forward to pull Joan into a hug — then paused in the middle of her move, leaving her in a relatively awkward stance.

"Joan" Jenny said. "When we saw you were missing, my father told me what was going on, and I was so worried—"

"Um." Joan's dad had told her Lewis knew everything, but she was surprised he'd told Jenny everything so quickly. That was surprising, and the 'worried' part, too. Or maybe it made sense. Whatever — she needed to focus. "Well, I'm better now. So… Hi." She held up the box. "I have a peace offering."

Jenny looked at the box, and the shadow of a smile appeared for a moment on her lips. "Okay, come in."

Joan went straight for the living room and sat down on the couch, Jenny following her and sitting beside her.

"So…" Joan started. She took a deep breath, and decided to get it over with. "I'm sorry for what I said last time. I shouldn't have. I mean, it's not your fault, it's something you're born with, right ?" That part, she'd gotten from a conversation with Brian she'd had an hour ago. "And, whatever they say at church, it doesn't matter, because you're my best friend. So I'm really sorry" she repeated.

Jenny looked at her like she was crazy. Which she may be, but for unrelated reasons. That, and Joan was well aware that her apologizing was probably unusual, too.

Then a smile broke on her face, and this time she did pull Joan into a hug. "It's okay" she said without letting go of Joan. "I guess that's not the worst I'll be told in my life. So… apology accepted, I guess. I love you, Joan." And something in the way she said it made Joan understand that yes, it did mean she loved her, as in _loved_ her, but it was still mostly about being her friend.

"I love you too" she answered. Chibi-Father James Holden immediately invaded her brain, but she shut him up. The statement felt entirely true as it was.


End file.
